


You and I on a date

by bennysparks



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: First Date, Fluff, M/M, Soft lads, terrible fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 07:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20596898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennysparks/pseuds/bennysparks
Summary: The super-soft version of Ben and Callum on a first date.





	You and I on a date

Callum Highway is on his first ever real date with a man. Ben is smirking at him from across the table. "I am  _ not  _ smirking," Ben says.

"You are totally smirking," Callum hisses, leaning forward and attempting to keep his voice down. In retrospect, maybe the Queen Vic was the wrong venue for their first date; he's pretty sure everybody is watching them. "I'm sorry," Callum says, looking from side to side. His brother could walk in. Ben's dad could walk in.  _ Whitney _ could walk in. "I thought this would be okay for a quiet drink…"

"I'm pretty sure no matter where we'd gone in the Square,  _ you and I _ on a date would have been the centre of attention." Ben lifts his pint and takes a long sip, clearly enjoying it; Callum is still not convinced that he's ready to start drinking alcohol again after the hospital, but Ben insisted and Ben is, well, probably the most persistent person that Callum has ever met. "We could have gone to the Prince Albert instead, you know."

"You mean the  _ gay _ bar that your  _ mother _ runs?" Callum lowers his voice when he says the word  _ gay _ still. He'd tried to officially come out to Ben last week—a formality that Ben recognized was important, and dutifully sat through despite Callum's considerable hemming and hawing—but he is still getting used to saying it without preemptively flinching like his father is going to hit him. 

Ben is smirking again. "You're still giving it a wide berth when you walk by, ain't cha?"

Callum looks up at the ceiling.

"You know it ain't actually cursed, right?"

"I'm not ready," Callum says. He looks back at Ben. "I mean, to go to the Albert—"

"I know what you meant, Cal."

"Okay." He smiles, although he's pretty sure his attempt at a smile is awkward at best. Everything about Callum is awkward, always has been, and it sort of irritates him that this is true even on his first real date with a man. He doesn't want things to be awkward with Ben. They haven't been, mostly, when they're on their own, away from other people.

"Anyway," Ben says. "If people are gonna be weirded out about one of us being on an actual date with a man, it's probably gonna be me."

Callum snorts. One or two people up at the bar look over. Mick is up there, keeping a careful eye on things. "Jay told me you deleted Grindr."

"That's our Jay, absolutely ruining my mystique."

"He says he figured something was going on, between you and me."

"Did he really?" Ben takes another sip without breaking eye contact. It's warm though, not aggressive. "Quite the boy detective, that one."

"He says you, uh, don't go for straight men."

"That is very true."

Callum wants to ask exactly what gave him away, but he knows that's the voice inside his head that sounds like his father asking. He drains his glass; as he sets it down, he realizes someone is ruffling his hair from behind.

Mick clears his throat. "Awright, gents?"

Callum expects Ben to take the piss, but then he says, "I think so, Mick. Fancy another round, Cal?" His voice is soft and even. Somehow that feels like the most  _ incriminating _ part of the evening.

"Sure," Callum says. He looks up at Mick as the older man takes the empty glasses and stacks them. "Same again?"

"I'll bring 'em over in half a tick, Halfway," Mick says. He gives Callum's shoulder a squeeze and heads back to the bar. Callum had  _ tried _ to have  _ the _ conversation with Mick and Linda last week, but it had turned into him bumbling and stuttering in their kitchen upstairs until Linda had reminded him that they'd already gone through this with their Johnny.  _ This is old hat, _ Mick had said helpfully.

When Mick is out of earshot, Ben leans forward and grins. "Papa Bear."

Callum tilts his head. "He's just looking out for me."

"Well, he ain't alone."

Callum looks back at Ben, is about to ask if something's happened, if Stuart has said something or  _ done _ something (again!), but Ben is reaching out to lace their fingers together. Callum tries to swallow the impulse to flinch, to pull away like he's been burnt, but Ben must see something in his face. "Shit," Callum says. "I'm sorry—it's just not—I haven't—" He takes a breath. "You took me by surprise is all."

Ben rolls his eyes. "Don't burst a blood vessel, Cal." He gives Callum's hand a squeeze.

A pair of full pint glasses appear on the table in front of them. It is now Mick's turn to smirk, and Callum is starting to feel like the entire world is intent on winding him up. "Never imagined we'd all get to see the soft,  _ romantic _ side of Ben Mitchell," Mick says, and Callum can feel Ben tense up. Callum rubs his thumb over Ben's knuckles until eventually Ben relaxes. They both have voices in their heads that sound like their dads. "Oh, Ben, our Johnny was asking after you, said to give you his best."

Ben's lips curl and Callum wonders if Johnny asked something because Ben got shot, because he's quietly started dating Johnny's brother's childhood best friend, or because—"That's sweet of him," Ben says, and he doesn't even make it sound mocking. "I should give him a bell."

After Mick wanders off, Callum clears his throat. "Did you and, uh, Johnny—"

"We're better as friends, don't you worry."

"That's not actually an answer."

"Well," Ben says, before taking a long sip. "I  _ am _ a gentleman, you know. I don't like to kiss and tell." He leaves it open for a joke, for Callum to tease him, but Callum can't actually argue with him about it because Ben kept his secret, after all. "Drink up," Ben says.

"Is everything okay?"

"I promised Jay I wouldn't have his best employee out late on a school night."

"Oh."

"I would also  _ very much _ like to get my very charming date away from all these prying eyes—half of whom are related to me, honestly—so that I can give him a proper good night."

That surprises a laugh out of Callum. Mick looks up from behind the bar. Back when he was with Whit, if she'd said something like that, Callum would have been genuinely uncomfortable, embarrassed, maybe a little bit exposed. He would have had to make up some excuse, would have worried that he wasn't reciprocating properly. Ben, on the other hand, he just says these things and rolls with the reactions, is quick to correct himself if Callum looks out of sorts. And right now, Ben is grinning, pleased that he got a positive reaction out of Callum. "I'm not going to chug this," Callum says. "But I definitely thought about it."


End file.
